Wannabe baritone players

DownUpDave

DownUpDave

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For those of you that WANT to try playing the baritone what is stopping you???

This is for the people who have a desire to play the BIG uke, what is holding you back. Cost of a another instrument, the idea of learning different chords ( it's all the same we just call a G a C)

Maybe you like the sound but you're afraid the size will be uncomfortable. What if you could buy a good used one at a reasonable price. Would that enable you to get something you have been really desiring?

There is a hidden agenda to this question so tell me your most compelling reasons you want one but haven't got one yet.
 
Need. More. Money. I think I need at least one more Tenor for Low G, a concert and a vintage Soprano before I go baritone, might need a new acoustic guitar as well...
 
Yes to all of the above :)

I am curious about trying a Bari and I'm sure I will get around to it at some point. However...

Size: I tried a Tenor a while ago and found it a stretch for my stumpy little fingers. It was about 50/50 fret width and string tension that sent me running back to Concert. I believe that a Bari doesn't have such high string tension though. And my finger dexterity has continued to improve.

Cost: Just bought myself a new Pono Concert and my fun money budget is pretty much shot until Christmas. There was a decent used entry level Bari on eBay.uk recently that tempted me but I wasn't decisive enough and missed it.

Different chords: I like playing songs in (or close to) their original key. So it means learning new stuff. And I'm still learning GCEA stuff. It will make my brain hurt.
 
I am definitely interested in a Baritone Ukulele. I have a limited ukulele budget and I constantly debate with myself on what to get next. I currently have 4 tenors and a Kala Waterman. Been thinking of a banjo ukulele, a longneck soprano pineapple, a baritone, so many choices and no Uke funds for a bit. But I am keen to try a baritone so one day it will happen.
 
I was drawn to the baritone by its deep mellow sound
It gives you the sensations of a big old acoustic guitar. I can't play a six string acoustic but the baritone fills a sonic void for me that is real close to it.
 
I'm a huge Baritone fan, it was my second choice after Soprano about 35 years ago. I love the bigger sound and sustain. Over the years I now tend to select the different sized ukes (Soprano, Concert, Tenor, Baritone) for particular songs, for me, each uke has a special voice and I tend to select the size I think will work best for a certain sound and feel.
 
Definitely learning the new chords, especially as a noob who is still figuring out GCEA. I love the rich deep sound of the bari's tho!
 
I encourage those of you even remotely interested in baritone to see what DownUpDave has in mind. 2 years ago- or maybe 1 year ago- I got frustrated with guitar and ordered a Pono mahogony baritone (I was already playing ukulele) and I only had to play a few notes to fall in love with my baritone. The tone itself is so deep and gorgeous that I was easily motivated to learn the chord positions- not a problem! Go for it!
 
I've had my baritone for about a month and love it's deep resonance. However in researching tuning change to G, I found the Tenor was originally tuned dGBE so I tuned one down. Wow it had a whole different tone than a Club tuned tenor. String tension is a lot lower and the scale (fret spacing) is more comfortable. Chord names are still confusing to me but songs just shift keys, so I form a C-F-G7 and think of G-C-D7 and I'm making progress.

I like the low D baritone but the high d Tenor has that re-entrant Uke sound as opposed to the Baritone's guitar sound. I need to learn scales in both C and G tunings to learn finger picking, but that will come in practice. I found Worth Browns Fats and D'Adarrio Carbon high G strings do a reasonable job in G tuning for a tenor. Other options are available but these seem to work okay.

It's worth a try with what ever tenor you have.
 
There is a friend that I jam with pretty regularly, and he plays baritone. That is all he has. I think that the two, the concert and the baritone, sound good together. They compliment each other. Right now though, I'm concentrating on learning to play my concert size uke. If it ever comes to a point where I feel like I'm not learning much anymore, I might go baritone, or maybe even guitar. I don't know. I haven't thought about it until now. But for now, I have a lot to learn, doing what I'm doing, so I'm satisfied. Who knows what will happen in the future though?
 
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I love baritone ukes. For me, it isn't even about "6 strings being too hard to play".

I play guitar. I play it as well as I play ukulele.

However, sometimes you can do more with 4 strings than with 6 strings!
 
While it's important to not spread one's self too thinly, it's also been my experience that learning several stringed instruments around the same time greatly improves my own playing and understanding of music.
 
EmmaQ said:
While it's important to not spread one's self too thinly, it's also been my experience that learning several stringed instruments around the same time greatly improves my own playing and understanding of music.
Click to expand...

I've found that to be true as well. I have a Bari, two Tenors, two concerts and a soprano within reach and I rotate them to hear how a song sounds in each key/tuning. It has made my chording accuracy improve and hasn't confused me too much. Though the D tuning on my soprano is the newest and least played, due to the tension of the strings mostly, I have made some progress with it in the last week.

I will restring my Ohana concert to re-entrant as the low G is too 'boomy' for it's spruce top. My Zebra Concert in Linear C sound fine.

This may challenge me on Chord Melody (in Key) work but it's too much fun not too.
 
JackLuis said:
I've had my baritone for about a month and love it's deep resonance. However in researching tuning change to G, I found the Tenor was originally tuned dGBE so I tuned one down. Wow it had a whole different tone than a Club tuned tenor(...)I like the low D baritone but the high d Tenor has that re-entrant Uke sound as opposed to the Baritone's guitar sound. I need to learn scales in both C and G tunings to learn finger picking, but that will come in practice.
It's worth a try with what ever tenor you have.
Click to expand...

This is excellent advice. Get strings for dGBE tenor tuning (high D), and check the sound! Then you won't have to buy a new ukulele just to check out a tuning... However, baritones are wonderful instruments....highly recommended! I have made a choice now, that I will play high D tenors and low D baritones from now on; almost exclusively.
 
I have a few sopranos, a few concerts, a couple of banjoleles, and one tenor. I would really like to try out a baritone. The only thing really holding me back is money. I have thought about one of those Butler Music gambler specials, but that could be just throwing money away. If I could find a decent bari for $100-150 I'd probably do it. Just waiting for the right deal, but I can imagine I will find one this year.
 
Whilst I would like to try one for size & sound, I think it may be too big for comfort.

My first uke was a tenor, but I found it to be too much of a stretch between frets, not having attempted to play a fretted instrument for about 20 years.

I have settled on concert scale because my fingers are comfortable with it, & I have sopranos because I like their size.

(Maybe when I'm more musically able I will try out a baritone.)
 
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DownUpDave said:
I was drawn to the baritone by its deep mellow sound
It gives you the sensations of a big old acoustic guitar. I can't play a six string acoustic but the baritone fills a sonic void for me that is real close to it.
Click to expand...

That is what got me, Dave.
After I heard Hodge's Silvertone in his comparison video I had to get one.
Best 100 bucks I have spent in a while.
I am happy that I got one.
 
johnson430 said:
That is what got me, Dave.
After I heard Hodge's Silvertone in his comparison video I had to get one.
Best 100 bucks I have spent in a while.
I am happy that I got one.
Click to expand...


Wow great pick up Johnson. The sound sample of Hodges Silvertone was a real eye opener, glad you found one.

I started out on baritone with an old beat up Gianinni. Some of those old baritones are great, that one is. I still have it
 
One suggestion for people thinking of trying the bari is to tune your tenor down to F Bb D G and try that deeper sound there. If you like it you can easily pick up a beater bari (mine is a Kala) and tune that exactly the same and the move to a bigger instrument is very smooth. I am definitely going to get a 'good' bari some day, in the mean while i switch between a Bb tuned tenor and a Bb tuned bari :)
 
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